Dreadnaught Tempest
by monbade
Summary: The Dreadnought Tempest is an old ship from the first war. Turned into a museum ship, she sent on a secret mission.
1. Tempest Chapter 1

**Please leave a review. This story is the lead story of all my BSG stories. This story takes place three months before the attack on the 12 colonies of Man.**

**Dreadnaught Tempest**

**The Mission**

**Chapter One**

**The Cylons were created by Man.**

**They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.**

**And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.**

**After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.**

**The Cylons left for another world to call their own.**

**A remote space station was built...**

**...where Cylon and Human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.**

**Every year, the Colonials send an officer.**

**The Cylons send no one.**

**No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years...**

**Until Now.**

**Dreadnaught **_**Tempest:**_

**Three months before the attack:**

**Leonis Museum Space Park:**

**CIC **_**Tempest**__**:**_

Commander Nancy Owens sat in the command chair going over the next day's list for the tours and crew rotation that were going to be run tomorrow. She was checking off everything on a secondary list as she went.

"Hey, Chief Lars, we're getting our Tylium fuel in thirty minutes so we can keep the lights on," Nancy said to the red headed deck chief in charge of the landing bay.

"Good, we're getting real low," Chief Tyron Lars said from his station on the CIC.

"What the frak?" Nancy said as she picked up the paper from the Admiralty.

"What is it Nancy?" Tyron asked.

"I have a message here asking if cargo bays one and three were still unfilled… Wait this is for Commander Myers, she was killed last month on Caprica in a skiing accident. What the hell is in cargo bays one and three? What's in the rest of the eight cargo bays?" Nancy asked.

"No idea," Tyron said.

"Well, let's go check it out. Since they are in a part of the ship not seen by the tours," Nancy replied and stood up. As they were walking to the door, she said, "Cadet Hays, you have command."

"Yes, Sir," the young woman said and walked over and sat down in the command chair.

Walking through the dimly lit ship, Nancy wondered what the ship would have been like forty years ago fighting the Cylons. She was two miles long, bristling with sixty, triple-mounted heavy KEWs (Kinetic Energy Weapons), two hundred light defense KEWs, twenty missiles tubes, ten per side, one hundred CIWSs (Close-In Weapons System), and six forward firing heavy KEWs in dual turrets. She had forty MK-III Vipers, twenty Mk-II Raptors and seven thousand people crammed into the ship's ten decks.

She was the only survivor of her class of eight, and in her last battle, she came home limping from damage, bleeding air. Half her crew were dead, most of her weapons wrecked, but she had taken out four base ships by herself, and had completed her mission. Rebuilt, after the war, she remained on active duty for twenty years before she was retired, and was turned into the museum she now was.

Crammed into her massive landing bays in the midsection of the ship were thirty Mk-III Vipers and thirty-five Mk IV's as well as twenty MK-II Raptors from the first war. Her manufacturing plant that produced her ammo for the massive ship had been changed to make three-inch replica shells, Vipers and Raptors. Her molds for the ships ammo, and the onboard craft sat behind roped barriers, so people could see the size of the shells she used to fire or the craft she had built to sustain her.

Walking up to the doors to cargo room one Nancy used her command override and opened the huge door to the three-story room. Stepping out onto the catwalk that looked into the room, they stood there looking down into the packed room. The room was packed with thousands of pallets containing cases of food. She could see everything from canned to dehydrated foods and crates of containers that contained flour, salt, and sugar, to the cases of MRE's that were just waiting to be used. Stacked against the far wall, to the roof, were cases of bottled water.

"There's enough food to feed a standard crew for several years by the look of it," Nancy gasped out.

"Looks like it," Chief Lars replied as he shook his head in surprise.

"Let's check cargo room two," Nancy said.

Stepping out, they closed the door crossed the hall to room two and opened the door. Inside were thousands of more boxes. As they looked at each they saw things like soap, toilet paper, coveralls, uniforms, cigarettes, chocolate, coffee, and thousands of other items to keep a ship's crew happy.

"This is weird," Nancy said as they stepped into the hallway and Chief Lars closed and dogged the door.

"Yes it is, door three?" he asked.

"Yes, we need to figure out what's going on. We will need to check all eight of the cargo rooms," Nancy replied, and turned to start off as the Chief finished sealing the room.

They walked five hundred feet down the corridor and she opened the door with her code. Stepping into the room, she saw eight rows of steel bins and they must have been stacked ten high. The first seven rows were the same size while the eighth was double the thickness. Each was marked with a number, and that was it.

"What the hell are those?" Nancy asked.

"No idea, Sir. We'd have to open them up to find out," Tyron said.

"Not going to happen. Come on, let's check out the rest of the cargo rooms," Nancy ordered as they stepped out of the room and pulled the door closed.

Stepping across the room, they opened cargo bay four and were again floored as they looked at the crates of parts for the ship. New weapon coils, pallets of diagnostic equipment, tools, and a million mundane items that were usually stored for the ship.

Commander Owens, report to the CIC… Commander Owens report to the CIC," came through the speakers.

Reaching over to the wall by the door, Nancy picked up the handset and said, "Owens."

"Sir, Admiral Corman is on the horn for you," Cadet Hays replied.

"Shit! Ok, I'll be right up," Nancy said and hung the handset up.

"Chief, I have to run up to the CIC. Admiral Corman is on the horn for me," Nancy said to the chief whose eyes went wide at the mention of the Admiral with a temper.

"Oh shit. What did we get into?" he asked as they started walking back the way they'd come.

The walk took three minutes to reach the massive CIC or Combat Information Center, as it was known as. Opening the hatch Nancy stepped into the room and walked to her chair.

Sitting down in her chair, she picked up the handset and said, "This is Commander Owens. What may I do for you, Admiral?"

"Stay the frak out of those cargo bays. Do I make myself clear?" Admiral Peter Corman voice snarled through the handset.

"Sir, I was following the orders I received this morning to check them," Nancy replied, and prayed that it would deflect his anger from her as she picked up the paper.

"I… what orders?" came the demand.

"Sir, I received an order in the mail packet this morning and its title coded as 93KD62F37DJDN7 and the messages states that I was to check cargo bays one and three, and report if there was still room in them for more deliveries. So that's what I was doing," she replied.

Nancy heard the shuffling of papers, and then the admiral was back.

"That was a mistake, that report shouldn't have been sent to you but it was. Tomorrow, I want you here so we can talk about it… make it seven pm at the Admiralty. Just so you know. There are four shuttles coming in tonight to make deliveries to the ship. You and your crew are ordered to their bunks after they land. YOU will stay out of their way and all security cameras shall be offline. Do I make myself clear?" Admiral Corman asked.

"Yes, Sir. We won't be near the landing bays," Nancy replied and heard the handset being hung up.

"What was that all about?" Chief Lars asked.

"I have no frakking clue. How did he know we were looking in them? Cadet, did you tell the admiral?"

"No, Sir, I didn't. He called and demanded to know who was in the cargo bays," Cadet Regina Hays stated.

"Thank you, Regina. So, when do the next set of cadets come up?" Nancy asked.

"In nine hours. We will be receiving two thousand cadets and teacher from the Leonis academy. After we get them settled, the nineteen hundred cadets that are on board right now, will report to the main hanger to reboard the shuttles to leave, unless you want us to wait and help get the school tour settled. The tour is scheduled to land twenty minutes after we're supposed to leave. As you know, this is a special gathering of the descendents of the ship's crew since she was a Leonis built and manned ship. The students, families and teachers to Leonis City, Judea High School are here for three days to honor Commander Judea Holdstein, the commander who fought the ship at the battle of Cygnus..."

"Oh Frak! I forgot that, I have to be here, I better call the Admiral back and let him know," Nancy said.

"Yeah, you better," Regina replied as she turned back to her station.

Picking up the handset, Nancy contacted Admiral Corman's office and left a message about the memorial tomorrow night at nine and how she had to be here for the honor of the fleet.

Hanging up the handset, she looked at the chief and said, "He'll probably bitch and scream about it. But I have to be here."

"Yeah, he will bitch, but he will understand," Chief Lars replied as he set the clipboard down and powered up the CIC for its nightly check.

"All systems are green. There is nothing on the Dradis but the nightly traffic and the ten ships of the museum. We have the tanker _Maelstrom_ at five hundred clicks and closing," he reported.

"Ok then, I just have one announcement to make, and we'll leave the ship in the tender hands of the cadets for the evening," Nancy replied as she picked up the handset and turned the ship wide on.

"Attention all hands, tonight some ships are coming into the main landing bay. Once they are docked, all personal except for the CIC crew are to report to their cabins for the rest of the night. I know you're all excited about going home tomorrow and I cannot blame you. I want you all to know it was a pleasure being your instructor and commanding officer for the last three weeks. Tomorrow, the new cadets are coming onboard, you will all make sure the cabins are ready for the Gold crew, and that all Silver quarters are cleaned for the next batch in three weeks.

"Also, I'm going to delay your launch tomorrow, because of the tour coming in from Leonis City, and Judea High School. As you are aware, they will be staying onboard for three days, and that this is an honoring of Commander Judea Holdstein, the commander who fought the ship at the battle of Cygnus and destroyed four baseships, and allowed the evacuation colony to escape. Commander Holdstein died three weeks ago, and it was his wish that his ashes to be interned in the chapel on the ship. The admiralty agreed. If you wish to stay and honor him, I'll delay your shuttles until after the ceremony.

"Now, for the last duty of the ship for the night, all hands, prepare to receive our fuel, it's coming in on the portside, just past the launching bays. All personal man your stations to monitor for fuel leaks and report them to the CIC. The smoking lamp is off until the ship has finished refueling us. That is all," Nancy said as she hung up the phone and the lights turned from their normal off white to the yellow for ship refueling.

Nancy watched as Regina picked up the handset on her station and started talking into it.

"Sir, it's the captain of the _Maelstrom_ he says he is ready to lock on and start filling our tanks," Regina reported.

"On wireless," Nancy said as she leaned back in her chair and waited.

"On the air, Sir," Regina reported.

"Good evening _Maelstrom_ this is Commander Nancy Owens of the Dreadnaught _Tempest._ How are you doing tonight?" Nancy said.

"_Tempest,_ this is Captain Mike Willard of the _Maelstrom. _Good evening to you. I have your fuel for you," came through the speakers.

"Very good, fill us up," Nancy ordered.

"You got it _Tempest,_ sit back and let us do our job," the captain of the _Maelstrom_ reported and the wireless was shut off.

"Fuel is coming in at two percent every minute. We should have our ten percent allotment in five minutes," Chief Lars reported.

"Very well, I'm going to get some coffee, want some Chief? Regina?" Nancy asked as she started walking towards the kitchen off the CIC.

The 'yes, pleases' came from both of them as she entered the small galley and saw the empty pot. Quickly filling the reservoir, she had a new pot brewing for the night shift, as she pulled their cups out and added cream and sugar to hers and Regina's. Twenty minutes later, she was walking back out to the CIC. She passed the cups out and sat down in her chair. Chief Lars was doing a systems check while Cadet Hays was running a simulation on the battle computer.

"You winning?" Nancy asked as she set the cup in the holder.

"No, and I don't see how Commander Holdstein defeated four baseships," Regina replied as she picked up her cup and took a sip. A sigh escaped her as she set the cup down.

"You have to factor in several things. One he had fifty ships he was trying to save, the crew trusted him to do the right thing, and three, never count a cornered ship out of the fight," Nancy replied as she walked over to her chair and sat down.

Nancy picked up her clipboard and started on the reports she hadn't finished. She was ten minutes into it when the handset shrilled. Reaching over, she picked it up and said, "CIC."

"This is the _Maelstrom_ you're all full, we'll see you later," came through the handset.

"Ahhh… thank you _Maelstrom_ and safe journey," she replied and hung the handset up. "Chief Lars, how much fuel did they give us?" she asked as she turned to the chief.

Tyron turned to a different station and flipped some switches, "Sir, they filled us. We won't need fuel for years," he replied.

"Oh crap! Hope the bean counters don't get pissed," Nancy said as she set the board down, and yawned.

"Oh, well, let them bitch at the tanker. They had the inventory of how much to give us."

"You're right. I'll mark it in the log as their screw-up. Since they did give us so much fuel, why not run a full systems check on engineering, and all the other sections we've haven't used in years," Nancy said as she stood up and stretched.

"Yes, Sir. Are you off to bed?" Tyron asked.

"Yes. Wake me when those shuttles are inbound," Nancy ordered as she walked to the door and went out.

"I will," was the last thing she heard as the hatch closed behind her and she walked down the hall to her quarters. Stopping at the one that had a gold nameplate on it, she reached out and touched it like she does every night.

"Commander, you have a tough old ship here. Too bad she's obsolete compared to the modern Battlestars," she said as she dragged her fingers across the name, 'Commander Judea Holdstein.'

Walking away, she felt a shiver go down her back as she stopped and looked at the door. It was almost as if she could hear the alarms flashing from the past or smell the burned insulation from battle damage.

With another shudder, she turned and walked ten feet to her quarters. Unsealing the door, she steeped in and closed the hatch.

"Ahh a shower first," she said and peeled her uniform off and tossed it in the hamper.

Ten minutes later, she was asleep.

Five hours later, her handset buzzed and she reached over and fumbled with it.

Picking it up off the floor where it had landed, she said, "Owens."

"Sir, this is Cadet Hays, you wanted to know when the shuttles were inbound. They should be landing in fifteen minutes," Regina reported.

"Thank you, Cadet. I'll be right up," Nancy replied and hung up.

Five minutes later, Nancy was standing behind Cadet Hays watching as the first of the shuttles came into the hanger bay.

"I could have sworn Admiral Corman said there was only four shuttles coming in, but I see eight here, and thirty more heading to the other ships of the museum fleet," Nancy said.

The fleet consisted of four Gunstars, the Tempest, two light cruisers, two Patrolstars, and two military freighters all were built by Leonis before or during the Cylon war.

"Maybe he changed it?" Regina asked as she sipped her coffee.

"All right, I can go with that. I just wish I knew what they were bringing onboard," Nancy said as she sat down in her chair.

"Well…" Regina started to say.

"Well what?" Nancy asked as she turned and looked at the cadet.

"We could… I mean as long as we don't get in trouble, we could watch what they are doing on the security cameras," she replied.

"And if anyone of them looked up and saw the lights on the cameras they would know…" Nancy started to say and then saw the girl flush and added, "What did you do young lady?"

"Umm, Sir, we ahh…"

"What?" Nancy said, as she turned full faced towards the girl.

"I… I mean we the cadets got together and painted the over the lights of the cameras. We did this several weeks ago so no one would know when they were on or off so we could get together and have a party on the landing bay. We made sure everything was cleaned up and we weren't very loud. We never removed the paint so when you look at the cameras they look like they're still off…"

"You slut you. Put it up on the screen," Nancy said with a giggle, and walked over and sat down beside the girl.

"Yes, Sir, and I'm not a slut. I just like sex like any typical girl and guy," Regina replied and brought the screen up and it showed the first shuttle sitting on the landing bay.

They watched as three forklifts were driven over from their storage as the rear doors opened on the shuttle. As they watched, a stack of twenty missiles were pulled from the shuttle by the first forklift and taken to the armory lift. As it went down, a second forklift grabbed another pallet and backed out of the shuttle.

"Those are Sandskipper ship killer missiles. I didn't think any were in existence anymore," Regina said with surprise in her voice.

"They look new, wait is that a fabrication unit?" Nancy asked as the third forklift backed out of the second shuttle and went down the hall to the manufacturing room.

"Ya it is," Regina said as she turned another monitor on and it showed the unit being set in the back of the manufacturing room.

"Bring up the armory hallway," Nancy ordered.

"I can't, we didn't paint those. If I turn them on, they'd see them," Regina said.

"Leave them off, well watch on these," Nancy replied as she adjusted the camera just a hair in the main bay.

They watched as pallets of missiles, flak rounds and heavy KEW rounds were taken to the armor and stored. It was the last two shuttles that landed, that they were shocked again as the doors opened and heavy ship killer missiles were unloaded. Forty nuclear missiles were taken to the main magazine and stored.

"Sir, what the frak is going on? This ship is decommissioned, and now we're fully armed to the teeth, this shouldn't be," Regina asked.

"I know and I don't know what the hell is going on either, but I will find out tomorrow when I see Admiral Corman," Nancy said.

"Shuttle 28HG to _Tempest_ CIC. Please respond," came through the wireless.

Nancy reached over to the communications station and grabbed the handset, _"Tempest_ CIC to Shuttle 28HG, go ahead."

"Shuttle 28HG is declaring an emergency. Our main engine won't fire. If it's ok with you, we're going to leave her here and send a heavy lifter to pick her up later on. It should only be a few days," came the request.

"I'll log it in, but how are you all going to get home?" Nancy asked even though she knew the answer.

"We'll use the other shuttle. Sorry about the inconvenience," the voice replied.

"That's ok, if you want I'll have our cadet's look at the engine, maybe we can fix it for you while you're gone," Nancy said.

"That will be ok, thanks again," the voice replied and they heard the wireless shut off.

"Well looks like you cadets have a job to do with the help of the few teachers to get that bird fixed. Put it down on the list for the first thing after the memorial," Nancy ordered as she stood up.

"Yes, Sir," Regina said and reached over for the duty pad and wrote the shuttle down on the list for the new cadets to learn on.

"Commander Owens, may I have a word with you," asked a voice from the hallway.

Nancy flew out of her chair and turned around. Behind her, standing in the hatchway was Admiral Corman. Coming to attention, she saluted and said, "Sir! Of course, Sir."

'_What the frak is he doing here,'_ she wondered as she walked to the door and stepped out into the hallway.

She followed him to Commander Holdstein quarters and they went inside. Stepping into the room, she saw three more admirals, and two men wearing black uniforms. As Corman walked around the desk and sat down she came to a stop and saluted the other admirals.

"At ease Commander," Admiral Corman said.

"Thank you, Sir…"

"You're wondering what we're doing here. Right?" Peter asked as he leaned back in the chair.

"It did cross my mind," Nancy asked.

"It's simple, Admiral, you and the ships of the park are going on a mission for us…"

"Admiral?" Nancy asked.

"Yes, you have been promoted to the rank of Admiral effective thirty days ago. As you're aware, your ship has been secretly rearmed and provisioned. Tomorrow, just before dawn on Leonis and after all the new cadets come on board along with the school kids and families, all the ships in the park will power up and head for point alpha on this map," he said holding up the rolled star map that was on the table. There you will be met with the fleet tanker _Crispin,_ the replenishment ship _Zoë,_ the repair dock _Hutton_, the fleet mining ship _Casper,_ and the foundry ships _Angel_ and _Wasp._ You will also have the electronics ship _Mineral,_ the storage ship _Mirage,_ and four liners. They are the _John Craggiest, _the_ Melanie, _the _Minnow,_ and the _Scarlet_. You will then proceed to Memnon where you will pick up the remaining ships of your fleet. They are the botanic cruiser _Homestead,_ the refinery ship _Nova,_ the water ship _Voyager_ and the heavy construction dock _Morrison_. Ten freighters are also there filled with supplies as well as construction equipment."

"Why Memnon? That's right on the redline," Nancy asked.

"Because after you get there, you're to jump past the redline and continue until you are well past the Cylons. We think you should go until you reach the void. We want you to find a habitable planet and start building a colony. We cannot send any Battlestars with you for one reason and that's the President, because he wants to know where everyone of them is at every minute of the day.

So we came up with another idea. Inside the _Morrison,_ is the uncompleted hull of the _Nightshade,_ she was going to be a _Nova_ class Battlestar and due to be launched in six months, but construction was halted by the president and she was ordered destroyed. Also in the dock are her flight bays. They just need to be attached. Supplies for the ship are in the _Hutton's _main docking bay including all her Vipers and Raptors…"

"Sir, what the hell is going on?" Nancy asked as she interrupted the Admiral.

"What is going on is this. If the Cylons attack like we think they will we want a fall back position. Your job is to find a planet, get it up and running and keep an eye out for any Cylon activities. Do I make myself clear?" Corman snapped out.

"Yes, Sir. We'll do it. But what about my crew, and the cadets, families?" she asked.

"Already taken care of, even your daughter and son are on the way to the _Scarlet._ Your household belongings have been packed and loaded aboard this ship in cargo bay seven. In fact your crew's belongings are there as well. Now good luck, and may the Lords of Kobol watch over you," he said as he stood up and handed her the map, folder, and a jewel case.

"Thank you, Sir," Nancy said as she took the case and opened it.

"Those were mine when I became a Rear Admiral. I felt they gave me luck as they belonged to my uncle. Good luck," Peter said and the men and woman with him walked to the door and stepped out into the hall.

Nancy put the pips on and followed Admiral Corman and almost ran into him as he reached out and caught her arm. He steadied her on her feet and then let her go.

"Nancy, you're not to tell anyone about your mission until after you get underway. Understand me?"

"Yes, Sir, I'll do my best Admiral," Nancy replied.

"I know you will. I had several cases of Scorpion Brandy brought with me. They're in your new quarters. I also had several data sticks of the Caprican Library brought up too. I know how you love to read a good book and enjoy a drink. Goodbye Admiral Owens, and safe journey," he said and walked away and stopped and turned around, "Admiral, just so you know. There's nothing wrong with the shuttle. It's a gift for your ship. Use her well.

"I will, Sir," Nancy replied as Corman turned and started walking again,

Nancy watched as the men walked down the hall and stopped at one of the bridge emergency escape hatches. The hatch opened and they stepped through the hatch and it was quickly shut from the inside.

"What the frak?" she said as she turned and walked back into her new quarters.

Going to the desk, she picked up the folder she'd set down, and read her orders. Nancy was astonished by the reports. A year ago, they had towed the _Tempest_ to the space dock, and had retrofitted her back to her original configuration except for the manufacturing plant. New KEWs were installed, and her engines were brought up to the latest spec. The whole fleet had been upgraded over the last three years.

How long Corman had been planning this mission, she didn't know. But with what had been poured into the mission, it was a miracle that nothing had leaked. Dropping the folder on the desk, she walked out of her office, closed and locked the hatch and headed to the CIC and looked at the crew.

"Sir, a Raptor broke seal five minutes ago and jumped away," Regina reported as she started to turn around.

"I know. Regina, order me up a Raptor. I'm going down to Leonis. I need to do some shopping," Nancy ordered as the girl jumped to her feet and saluted.

"At ease, Cadet," she said.

"Sir, permission to speak freely?" Regina asked.

"You may."

"Congratulations Sir," she said with a smile.

"Thank you Cadet. Now, do you wish to go with me?" Nancy asked.

"Yes, Sir, let me call a relief…"

"Very well. Oh forget about the Raptor. Get your relief up here," Nancy said and then added, "and go get your money kit and meet me in the landing bay."

"Yes, Sir," Regina said as she picked up the handset and started speaking into it as Nancy left the CIC.

Nancy walked through the ship, and was about halfway to the landing bay when Regina caught up with her, her regulation handbag hanging on her shoulder. With a grin the two of them walked to the bay and over to the shuttle.

"Sir, she's not working," Regina asked.

"Yes, she is. Corman assigned her to the ship," Nancy said as she boarded the shuttle with Regina right behind her.

Once inside, she shut the door, and raised the rear hatch. Ten minutes later they were landing in the spaceport and on their way to the mall that serviced the port. Around them, ships were lifting off and landing while hundreds of thousands of people rushed around.

The first stop was the commissary where Nancy grabbed the manager and went up and down the aisles pointing at items. As she walked, an army of employees palletted the items she wanted and they were taken to the shuttle where they were loaded. Then it was off to the mall where more items were added to the list. Nancy used her family card and bought so much stuff that a cargo container was ordered up along with a heavy lifter to carry the container to the ship.

Regina followed her boss with her jaw most of the time hitting the floor. She couldn't figure out why the newly promoted Admiral was buying so many supplies. When she hit the bookstore and bought it out that's when she tried to ask what was going on, but Nancy told her to shush and just take notes. After the bookstore, it was the movie and music shops where she bought them out. These items she used the fleet accounts to pay for and the purchases were boxed and taken to the airfield. The last stop was the liquor store and she bought them out as well. Five stills were purchased as well and hauled to the port.

The last stop was a diner, where they had breakfast. Regina sat and went over the list, while Nancy continued to order stuff from the city on the computer station. She had the purchases sent to the port to be loaded into the container.

"What's the matter Regina?" Nancy asked.

"Sir, what's going on? Why are you buying so much…"

"Stuff? You will know later tonight when I tell the ship's crew," Nancy said as she took a sip of her drink.

'_It's almost like were going on a mission, but that's impossible, the Tempest is a museum ship,'_ Regina thought to herself as she ate some more of her chicken.

When finished, they headed back to the shuttle port where they found the shuttle fully loaded and three storage containers loaded with the purchases.

"Ok, I want those three containers delivered to the _Tempest_ ASAP, do I make myself clear?" Nancy shouted to the men and woman working around the three ships.

"Sir, yes Sir," came the reply as Nancy turned to the shuttle and Regina and her walked up the deck and squeezed past the boxes and boxes of supplies.

Lifting off, they flew back to the museum park with the three heavy lifters behind them. Nancy was thinking of the three ships, and she picked up the handset and called Leonis spaceport.

"Leonis Spaceport, this is Admiral Owens, dispatch a Raptor to the _Tempest_ to pick up three flight crews," she said.

"Leonis Space Port to Admiral Owens, we are dispatching a Raptor now," came the reply through the handset.

"Thank you Leonis, Owens out," Nancy said as she hung the set up.

Flying towards the ship, she saw that the shuttles for the cadet change-over were lifting off from the planet and she knew they would be leaving soon. Contacting the _Tempest,_ she received permission to land and flew into the bay. Once landed, she had the shuttle hauled as deep as it could into the landing bay while the heavy lifters followed her in, and shut down.

Twenty minutes later, the containers were lifted off the flight deck and taken to the ship storage with the haulers. The pilots and crews were pissed that their ships were being taken and Nancy dragged them to the side and offered them a choice to stay or go. Two of the pilots and ECOs agreed to go since they were single, they were loaded onto the shuttle and flown back to Leonis where they were sworn to secrecy by the JAG core. Thirty minutes later the two heavy lifter crews were back with their belongings.

Nancy watched as the shuttles started coming in with the Gold crew and they were quickly unloaded, and the shuttles re-launched so the rest of the shuttles could land. An hour later, the _Tempest's _crew has swelled to over five thousand men and woman. With everyone settled the next four shuttles came in and were lowered to the hanger bay where hundreds of civilians were off loaded and shown to their quarters.

Nancy didn't know it, but while she was gone, the ship was quietly readied to make sail. The regular fleet personal had been working every night for the last week to get everything ready under the nose of her commander. Now that it was time, two hundred fleet personal were busting their asses, to get the manufacturing plant back up and running by exchanging the machines.

Shaking her head, Nancy and Regina headed for the CIC where Chief Lars met them.

"Welcome home, Admiral," Chief Lars said.

"You knew?" Nancy asked in surprise.

"Yes, I did. I guess I should change my uniform since I'm out of it," Tyron said.

"What is your rank and position?" Nancy asked.

"Colonel Tyron Lars, Colonial Marines at your service, temporary assigned to Black Ops..."

"You're a black ops operative?" Nancy asked in surprise.

"Yes, Sir. And now, I'm in charge of your marines…"

"Sir, engines powering up. The fleet is powering up, ready to get underway," came from the engineering station.

Nancy walked over to her chair and sat down. With surprise still racing through her mind, she said, "Regina, take your place at communications and notify the rest of the fleet to form up on us. Helm set course for Blackberry point. We jump in ten minutes to Memnon to pick up the rest of the fleet."

Nancy watched as Regina walked to her station and seemed to be in a daze.

"Regina, are you ok?" Nancy asked.

The young girl jumped as she was addressed and turned towards her boss, "Yes, Sir… it's just so confusing," Regina said as she sat down.

"I know, I'll explain more later when I have time. Ok?" Nancy replied and the girl nodded her head to her and turned around.

Forty minutes later the fleet gathered together, the warships on the outside, the civilian ships in the center with the _Tempest_ in the lead. Back at Leonis, ten nuclear warheads detonated at the museum park taking out the station buoys. Nancy wondered how they would cover the missing ships, and now she knew as the reports came in about a strike for freedom against the Colonial Government. Seconds later they flashed out of existence and reappeared near Memnon where the rest of the fleet was gathered.

The additional ships formed up with the fleet and the Nancy looked at the first of a series of jumps that would take them towards Athena's Heart. Using the maximum safe distance, they jumped seventy light years and appeared between two star systems where Nancy summoned the crew to the main hanger to address them. 

_**First Edited by Bill Lewis**_

_**Final Edit By TeNderLoin**_

Battlestar Galactica™ is a registered trademark and copyright (©) Glen Larson & the SciFi Channel. Thank you to the Battlestar Wiki and The Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game, Battlestar Prometheus have proven invaluable for the information they contain. All material found in this story is for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement should be inferred or is intended. Battlestar Tempest and all its original characters and story lines presented here are the copyright (©) of their creator (©) 2010.


	2. Tempest Chapter 2

**Dreadnaught Tempest**

**Taskforce**

**Chapter Two**

**The Cylons were created by Man.**

**They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.**

**And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.**

**After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.**

**The Cylons left for another world to call their own.**

**A remote space station was built...**

**...where Cylon and Human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.**

**Every year, the Colonials send an officer.**

**The Cylons send no one.**

**No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years...**

**Until Now.**

**Dreadnaught **_**Tempest:**_

**Deep behind the Red Line:**

**Main Hanger**_**:**_

The ships floated close together, near a small asteroid field that shouldn't have been in that area of space as it was way outside any known system. It was four hours after the last jump and the crews of the ships were preparing for the next series of jumps that would take them further from the core worlds than supposedly anyone had been since the exodus from Kobol thousands of years ago.

Admiral Owens was walking through the ship with a young cadet. They were inspecting everything as they walked. They had been called to a power junction box that had been sabotaged.

Nancy closed the power panel and handed the clipboard back to the cadet and they started walking towards the main hanger.

"Regina, make sure all the panels are checked. I don't want them to fail when we need to use the weapons. Also, send a note to Colonel Lars, I want sensors placed on all of them. He is also to have the CSI units to dust that panel for prints, but I doubt they will find them. Whoever planted the charge in there, screwed up and it detonated early. If I remember right, you said that we had a container of surveillance gear. Have Colonel Lars discreetly set some up around the ship, that are not connected to the internal security system. I want the traitor captured and interrogated. Do I make myself clear?" Nancy demanded as she turned the corner to head down another passageway.

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll make sure Colonel Lars knows your orders," Regina said as she wrote the note down on a separate paper.

"Good. Now are we connected to all the ships?" Nancy asked as she opened one of the hatches and they stepped through.

Regina looked up from the clipboard she was carrying and replied, "Yes, Sir. So you know, I been going through the mounds of paperwork we received from the other ships and I found out some interesting things. First that every ship is armored and armed with point defense weapons to take out any type of small craft except ours, well as long as they are squawking IFF.

"Also, I have some information on two of the freighters. The _Minister _was converted into a food factory. She delivered her load of bread to all the ships this morning. They state that all ships now have at least a week's worth of fresh bread.

"Also, while I was digging through the reports, I found out that the freighter _Hassel_ has been retrofitted into a hospital ship. Her eight containers were armored and attached to the ship permanently. Each container is three levels, the top two have two hundred and fifty beds each, and the bottom deck is the surgery, labs, dental and all the medical staffs' quarters. The rest of the ship is stocked with tons of supplies as well as barrels of chemicals to make the drugs we will need. Sir, I would like to say that it was sneaky how the Admiralty converted two of the freighters into a hospital and bakery ship. I am still checking on the others."

"Really?" Nancy said as her left eyebrow went up and she thought of fresh bread. Good. Did you find out anything about those cargo manifests we received from Admiral Corman on the _Tempest_ cargo bays?"

"Yes, Sir. The lists contain everything from the back fence to the kitchen toilet. Admiral Corman was very thorough in their restocking of the ships. Those large bins you told me about in cargo bay three contain Vipers and Raptors. There are seventy of the new Mark Eights, and ten experimental stealth Raptors for use when we get where we're going…"

"What the frak is a Mark Eight?" Nancy asked.

Regina flipped through the reports before replying, "The report states it's an experimental type of Viper. She is a two seater, with a rear firing twin turret on the bottom of the ship, controlled by an ECO. It is FTL capable, and is a stealth fighter. They are supposed to go into full production next year, to replace the Mark Sevens."

Nancy stopped walking and her head whipped around to her aide as she gasped out, "Frak me! Forward the stats to my office computer, along with any video of them in action. I have to see what they're capable of."

"Yes, Ma'am," Regina replied as she wrote a quick note.

"What else is there for me?" Nancy asked as they started walking again.

"There is just so much, but I don't think we have time," Regina said as they reached the main hatch for the hanger bay.

"You're right," Nancy said as they stepped into the room and looked around. She saw they had set up the podium for her, next to the Mark Three Vipers. Stiffening her back, she walked towards the platform as Colonel Tyron Lars said into the microphone.

"ATTENTION ON DECK!"

The snap of the crew coming to attention in the room made her smile as she walked up onto the platform and over to the podium.

"At ease, everyone," Nancy said as she watched the personnel of the _Tempest_ go to parade rest.

She looked at the mostly young faces of her crew, sprinkled with the hundreds of the experienced fleet members. She prayed they could forage the crew into a working unit.

"Good morning, everyone," she said as she set her notes down.

"Good morning, Admiral," came the reply from the crew in front of her.

With a small laugh, she cocked her head to the side and looked at Tyron. She saw him grinning.

"Thank you," she said as she turned back to the crew and continued, "Ladies and Gentleman of the fleet, as you know, yesterday we jumped deep behind the red line. Why did we do this? The reason is very simple; we were given orders to do so. Our mission is to find a planet beyond the Cylon area of control. We are to set up a new colony and support base. That is why the thirty-eight ships of this fleet have been assembled. When we find the system we will inhabit, we're ordered to start building the system infrastructure…"

"Why?" came the question from the crew.

"Young woman. What is your name?" Nancy asked as she looked at the woman who had spoken out.

"Cadet Millie Anthon, from Tyler City on Leones," came the reply from the blond girl who had her hair up in a ponytail.

"Cadet Anthon, as you know. We are in the military…" raising her hand to stop the comments, she continued, "Yes; I know you're all cadets. You are cadets bound to enter the military after you graduate in three months. And as you know from your teachings at the schools… we, the military, don't ask why. We do the best we can to follow orders, unless it calls for needless casualties that make us question our orders.

"Now for the reason for our orders are these… Admiral Corman and many of the Admiralty believe the Cylons will return and attack us, someday. President Adar believes that a smaller military will make them leave us alone, plus it will allow the president to bolster his political aims, by reinforcing social reforms that we believe will fail.

"Now, as I said, the Admiralty believes the Cylons will return and attack us, but they don't know when. Be it now, next week, next year or fifty years from now, they are certain the Cylons will return. In the battles we fought against them forty years ago, we suffered horrible casualties, yes we have rebuilt, but remember this. It takes eighteen years for a baby to enter adulthood to fight. The Cylons went from the assembly line to the battlefield in weeks, so I ask you this. Why did they suddenly stop fighting and just leave? They could have defeated us easily. Instead they just climbed aboard their ships, jumped away, and asked for an armistice.

"So what did we do? We built Armistice station so we could have face-to-face meetings with them, and they've never came back. Why? Where are they? What have they built in that time frame? Remember they don't need to sleep; they don't have unions demanding better pay. They just work until they are worn out. A new one is sent in as a replacement, and the old one is recycled. It took us four weeks to build a Cylon worker originally, once they rebelled, how fast did they built their models once they took the Graystone construction ship that built them? Again, we don't know. So that's one of the reasons we …"

A cadet raised her hand and shouted, "There just toasters, machines, its…"

"Not like they can think? Remember they rebelled against us. We kept them, basically, as slave labor. We gave them the ability to think and learn. And learn they did. They learned war, deceit, tactics, ambushes, and how to wage a galactic war. Then they left. Why?" Nancy said as she looked at the cadet in the front of the ranks.

Cadet John Knells blushed as he lowered his hand and looked up at his commanding officer before replying, "I… I don't know. No one has ever asked those questions before."

"That's right, no one has. But behind the scenes, we do talk about it. Nor does the Admiralty know when they'll just show up out of the blue. The one thing they do agree on, is that they will attack. So that is why we may need a bolthole in case the fleet needs to regroup. We are that bolthole. We shall do as we're ordered. So for the next few weeks, we'll be jumping every day, until we get past the void. Once passed the void, we'll start looking for a world.

"Now I know this is scary for you, especially you cadets who thought you would go off to the Academy on Picon next year. Well, this is your graduation day! This is why you have been trained on these old ships. Ships that have been upgraded with modern weapons, and the most important item, they have been manned by you cadets. Remember when Commander Judea Holdstein went into action against the four base ships, a third of her crew were cadets that brought honor to the fleet and to their homes. Those cadets are your ancestors. Now hear this. YOU will bring honor to all those who died on this ship, and to their survivors. We will succeed, so help us all."

"So help us all!" shouted from the assembled crew.

"Good. Assignments will be meted out, based on your three years of training sessions on the ships. Your ranks will also be determined by your grades, and scores. If you have a problem with your assignment, please talk to your group coordinator. If they cannot resolve the problem, then pass it up the chain of command. Do you understand me?" she asked.

"Sir, Yes Sir," came the reply.

Nancy smiled at the response, and said, "CREW OF THE TEMPEST AND THE FLEET! MAN YOUR STATIONS!"

"AYE-AYE, SIR!" the crew replied and scattered to man their stations.

Nancy turned and walked down the ramp. Her command crew formed up with her as they headed back to the CIC.

"Good speech, Admiral," Colonel Lars said as he fell in with them.

"Thank you, Colonel. I've always been good with speeches. If Corman had given me more command officers, I wouldn't be doing this to you Regina, so from now on. You are my second in command. Your marks and scores make you the logical choice for XO of the _Tempest._ I just wish you had a few years of seasoning before you got the job, but you don't. So you will be learning on the job from now on," Nancy said as she looked at the young woman and saw her eyes go wide at the news.

"Me?" she asked.

"Yes, and congratulations. Now be prepared to work your ass off. Go to the XO's quarters and change into your new uniform. I had your belongings moved there an hour ago," Nancy said as they stepped onto the bridge.

"Thank you, Sir. I will not fail you," she said as she walked over to her station and hung her clipboard on its hanger.

"I know you won't Regina. Com, send to all ships that we jump in ten minutes for Athena's Heart. Civilian ships in the center, Tempest has the lead and the rest of the warships are on the flanks. I want three Raptors to be prepared to jump to their next jump point and scan for Cylons. Once there, one will come back. The remaining pair will jump again. Then the second Raptor is to jump back while the third jumps again. We will continue this way until we get to the void."

"Yes, Sir. Sending, now," came the reply from the communications station.

Major Jack 'Hold'em' Card looked up from his station and said, "I'll get the Raptors ready to go. Permission to leave the bridge?"

"Thanks, CAG, and permission granted," Nancy replied as she took the offered cup of coffee.

Ten minutes later, the fleet appeared outside the nebula. Three Raptors were launched to go scout the next jump locations, while the ships of the fleet closed with the flagship for protection. Sensors and scanners scanned the nebula known as Athena's Heart

"Sir, Dradis is detecting something at sector 363.23 at extreme range… it just FTL'd… Cylon base ship twenty-five thousand meters off our portside near the bow. She closing and launching Raiders and missiles... It's a Baseship from the first war," shouted the Dradis officer.

"Launch the alert Vipers! Hard to port," Nancy ordered as she picked up the handset mounted to her chair, and turned it on.

She watched the missiles closing on her command, "All hands set condition one throughout the ship. All gun crews, man your battle stations and open fire on enemy Raiders. Prep all remaining Vipers for launching. We have a Cylon baseship closing on us."

The lighting changed from a dull white to red as the alarms started sounding throughout the ship. The ship turned towards the Cylon Baseship and started returning her fire. Explosions started appearing around the enemy Raiders as the Vipers closed. _Tempest_ took three missile hits to her armored bow, as her anti-missile defenses started taking out the incoming enemy missiles.

"All guns target her midsection, it's her weakest area," Nancy ordered as the ship settled on her new course.

Along the side of the great ship, thirteen triple turrets turned and fired two-ton shells at the enemy ship. Six hit the ship, and then it darted to the side as the rest of the shells flew past it.

**Baseship Iloran**

**Command Deck**

"Damage to the middeck hanger, and portside missile launchers," the number three, called Zoedia, said, as alarms started sounding in the ship.

"Fall back and let them continue escaping. Order the Raiders to continue to harass them. Send a message to the rest of the fleet to regroup here so we can follow them and destroy them once they get where they are going as planned," the number one model Cylon called Corman ordered.

"Raiders closing with the _Tempest,_ however most have been destroyed by her improved defensive weapons. I wish Cavil had sent us a few newer baseships as well as some Scimitars," the three said as the ship shook as it was hit again.

"We don't need them. That old rust bucket is piece of garbage, and will be destroyed… the stain against us by her, will be wiped out for eternity once she is gone," One said as he touched a few panels and they lit up.

"One of the Raiders hit near the portside landing bay. Damage seems to be moderate…" the three was reporting when the ship shuddered from another hit.

"Damage report," one said.

"FTL is off line. Long range communications off line, they took out auxiliary control," three reported.

"Fall back to the nebula, we will hide in the gases and complete repairs," One ordered.

"As you command!" came from the Cylon warrior at the navigational station.

One turned and looked at the silver and chrome warrior. He smiled at the phrase the machine had spoken, and wished he could hear it from the newer models.

_**Tempest **_**CIC:**

The crew staggered as the ship was hit again.

"Damage report!" Nancy ordered as she watched the Baseship falling back with heavy damage. She wondered why they weren't jumping for a second but figured their FTL was damaged.

"Sir, they are falling back to the nebula," Regina said from her station.

"Salvo fire in pairs, let's take that bitch out before they report back to the rest of them we're here," Nancy ordered as she stood up and walked to the Dradis screen.

"Firing salvos, firing in pairs," Regina said as the main turrets paired up and opened fire.

The base ship shuddered as the main rounds slammed into the ship. Compartments were destroyed as the solid slug rounds ripped through the hull. Explosions detonated from the hull as ammo bays were destroyed. As the ship started to enter the nebula six rounds hit the central core and the ship an explosion detonated out of the side of the ship, hurling the remains into the nebula.

"Baseship destroyed, last of the Raiders are closing with the fleet. They're going to suicide," Regina gasped out.

"Tilt the ship twenty degrees, all batteries that can bear… open fire," Nancy ordered.

Hundreds of defense guns opened fire and the thirty remaining fighters blew up before they could get near the ship.

"Damages and casualty reports," Nancy ordered as she watched the last Raider explode.

"Sir, light damage to compartments P-176 and 177. Hull integrity was breached but bulkheads sealed the damaged areas off. No report of casualties, but six wounded. We also lost four of our Vipers, but have transponders from three ejected seats," came the reply from the DC officer.

Nancy looked at the cadet at the DC station and said, "Johan, send out the CSAR Raptors and land the alert fighters. Have the heavy lifters search for any large parts of the destroyed Vipers and recover them. Dispatch repair crews to damaged compartments and notify the replicating bay to refill our used ammo," turning, Nancy looked at her second and command and gave her, her orders, "Regina, notify the fleet we jump as soon as the first Raptor returns. Gunstars go first, we'll bring up the rear. Have the wounded transported to the _Hassel_ ASAP so they can get treated for their wounds. Recovered pilots are to be delivered there as well for physicals."

Cadet Johan Bell picked up his handset and started talking into as Regina went to the communications station and leaned over to talk with the girl there. The minutes counted down and the wounded were delivered to the medical ship while two of the Heavy lifters picked up parts of the damaged Vipers and returned them to the ship to see if they could be repaired. A crippled Raider was brought on board with the crew compartment destroyed.

"Dradis contact, its Raptor 78436," the Dradis officer said.

"Good, what's the word?" Nancy asked the communications officer.

""Sir, they report jump site one is clear for the jump. They report a small asteroid field, that is rich in Tylium," Cadet Nora Welling reported.

"Tell them to jump back. Notify all ships to jump," Nancy ordered.

"The fleet is jumping now," Regina reported and then added thirty seconds later, "The last ship has jumped."

"Then jump the _Tempest."_

"Jumping!" Regina said as she turned the key for the FTL drive.

_**First Edited by Bill Lewis**_

_**Final Edit By TeNderLoin**_

Battlestar Galactica™ is a registered trademark and copyright (©) Glen Larson & the SciFi Channel. Thank you to the Battlestar Wiki and The Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game, Battlestar Prometheus have proven invaluable for the information they contain. All material found in this story is for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement should be inferred or is intended. Battlestar Tempest and all its original characters and story lines presented here are the copyright (©) of their creator (©) 2010.


	3. Tempest Chapter 3

**Dreadnaught Tempest**

**Exploration**

**Chapter Three**

**The Cylons were created by Man.**

**They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.**

**And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.**

**After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.**

**The Cylons left for another world to call their own.**

**A remote space station was built...**

**...where Cylon and Human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.**

**Every year, the Colonials send an officer.**

**The Cylons send no one.**

**No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years...**

**Until Now.**

**Dreadnaught **_**Tempest:**_

**Deep behind the Red Line:**

**CIC**_**:**_

The _Tempest _appeared amongst her charges and then vanished again as the new coordinates were set. The fleet gathered close and jumped again into the darkness, to reappear near an asteroid field. The ships came to a stop and several miner shuttles were launched to search the asteroids. Three of them turned and headed for a slowly spinning one that covered an ice on one end. After ten minutes of scanning they landed on the asteroids that they found rich in Tylium. Three bore machines were lowered to the surface of the asteroid and they quickly started boring hikes in one section of the asteroid that were packed full of explosives. The shuttles lifted off and the explosives were detonated which caused chunks of Tylium to go spinning away from the main body.

Four Raptors configured for mining operations swooped in and cables were shot out from underneath the small crafts and attached to several large chunks of the precious rocks. Once stabilized from their spins or dragged to a stop the modified Raptors turned and dragged the rocks towards the _Casper_. As the Raptors neared the refinery ship, giant clam doors opened up and the ship moved forward, scooping up the chunks of rock to be pulverized by giant grinders. The rock was heated and the precious miners were melted down into its basic components for the fleet. Iron, Tylium, copper, silver and gold were extracted and melted into bars or into fuel. The remains of the rock were pulverized and bagged up for storage.

Rear-Admiral Nancy Owens watched as the chunks of space debris were dragged aboard the refinery ship _Casper_ for processing. Turning in her chair, she looked at her communications officer, "Nora, contact the _Hassel_ and get a report on how many are down with FTL fever. Then notify the fleet we will rest here for twelve hours before we begin our next series of jumps," turning once more she ordered, "Lieutenant Bryant I want you to launch the recon Raptors and put a cap up," as she stood up and walked to the Dradis station and examined it.

"Yes, Ma'am. Sending your orders, now," Cadet Nora Welling replied as she activated the communications board and sent the request to the fleet.

Lieutenant Richard Bryant picked up his handset and started talking into the handset as the lights changed from red to a pale white as the crew stood down from their FTL stations.

Nancy watched as the Dradis board blossomed to life as eight vipers were launched from the _Tempest_ followed by six raptors that quickly vanished into FTL. Going back to her command chair, she sat down and said, "Get me a sitrep of the fleet. Tell them we should be jumping in one hour so they are to keep their FTL drives hot for a quick jump."

"Yes, Ma'am. Sending now," Nora said as she turned to her communications station.

**Raptor 27622**

**Cadet John Knells commanding.**

John watched as the clock counted down and they popped out of FTL. They were on the edge of the planetary system. The ships scanners reached out and started mapping the system. The information that came back showed five planets, and three asteroid rings. Off his port bow, Raptor 3732 under the command of Lieutenant Anthony Hops floated next to them.

"Raptor 27622, this is Raptor 3732, please respond," came over the com system.

John picked up the handset and replied, "This is 27622, go ahead."

"John, let's move in nice and easy. Keep ECM at medium power and all electronics under stealth emissions. We will do a small FTL jump to the first asteroid belt and then coast through it using thrusters. Sending jump coordinates now," Anthony ordered.

"Yes, Sir, medium power and all emissions under stealth. Powering up FTL drive now," John ordered as he received the coordinates for the jump from the lead Raptor.

The two ships vanished into FTL and appeared halfway into the system. Both pilots tapped their thrusters and they moved into the asteroid field. Ten minutes later they came to a stop on the far side and started scanning the system. As the data started coming in, the information flowed across the screen. The only planet which could have sustained life was radioactive from thousand of nuclear warheads. Ruined cities were detected on the surface with over grown roads.

"Whoever they were, they died about thirty years ago. I am detection Tylium residue in the isotopes from the detonations. Estimated fifty to seventy megaton warheads were used. The only wreckage I am detection in orbit are small satellites," Cadet Celosia McKinney reported.

"Thanks Celosia. It looks like the Cylons wiped them out," John said sadly as he looked at the images of the ruined cities.

"Not only them, but all life. I'm not detecting any animal life as well."

"John, spin up the ftl. You take course two, I'll take course one. We will meet up at coordinates six in two days," Anthony ordered.

"Yes, Sir. Spinning up the ftl now," John replied as he shut down the wireless and said, "You heard him Celosia."

"All set, count down in 3… 2… 1… Jump."

The raptor carrying John and Celosia appeared in the new system. Scans detected only rubble remaining of the six planets that once inhabited the system. Three giant asteroid belts circled what was now called a vampire star. The star was slowly pulling the first of the three asteroid belts. Crushing what used to be the planets in its powerful magnetic field. Before John could do anything the ship shuddered and started spinning.

"What the frak?" John shouted out as he grabbed the joystick and tried to stabilize the ship.

"We're caught in a gravitational sheer," Celosia reported as blood started running out of her nose.

"Spool up the second FTL generator, or we're dead," John ordered.

"I'm working on it," Celosia replied as her fingers flew across her keyboard and hit the enter command. A flash of green from her boards and she shouted out as the ship groaned, "It's on the chip. You can jump us; get us the frak out of here."

John turned the key to the ftl drive and the ship flashed away as the hull groaned from the strain of the ftl engine. Pain shot through his body as he felt like he was being torn apart and he screamed out in agony. Beside him, Celosia did the same in her seat and then slumped forward with blood running from her ears and nose and he passed out from the pressure.

The Raptor appeared light years away in a dense cloud of swirling color. Her crew was unconscious and the computers emergency backups booted up and leveled the ship out and sent out a low powered scan to detect for ships or land masses they could land on. Twenty microns later, a signal came back.

Celosia groaned and her hand came up to her forehead where she found a trickle of blood running down her face, "Where the frak are we?" she said as she reached into her flight suit pocket and pulled out her handkerchief.

"Don't know Celosia. When we jumped the system when ballistic from the shear, we could be anywhere…" John stopped talking as the ship started a slow turn.

"Gravitational pull, not too bad," Celosia said as her systems came online, "What is that light?"

"It's from the nebula, not as bright as sunlight, but it does give us something to look at," John replied as he tapped a few commands into his flight controls.

John fired the thrusters and turned the craft around. Around them the nebula spread out to form a large pocket of clear space that had the single planetoid that spun in a slow circle. What was strange was the planetoid had an atmosphere that was compatible for the crew if it was so cold that your blood would freeze in your veins without an environmental suit. There were also a dozen large asteroids that were in the two to five kilometer range two million kilometers away from them as well as a small belt of asteroids that circled the edge of the pocket at the twenty million kilometer range. The entire pocket was just under a forty million kilometers across and high, enough room for the gas giant Ragnar to fit inside and still leave room.

"Where the frak are we?" John asked as he looked out the front window of the Raptor.

"Working on it… Ow my head hurts," Celosia replied as she reached for the med kit mounted on the bulkhead to the right of her chair.

"Get something for the pain, but stay awake. You could have a concussion," John said as he turned his chair and climbed into the back of the Raptor.

John typed some commands into the onboard computer and then applied thrust to the engines. The Raptor headed towards the planetoid that seemed to be affecting the nebula. As they neared it, sensors started detecting an energy source on the asteroid.

"What the frak?" Celosia said as her sensor board started acting up.

"What's wrong?" John asked.

"We're getting a power spike from the planetoid. It's some type of energy field that's radiating from the planetoid, Its resonating on 3.000.000 Hertz that seems to be pushing the nebula gases away from the planet. Why it's doing this? I don't know," Celosia reported

"Think it's safe for us?" John asked as he looked down on the planetoid and all he could see was ice.

"Well I don't see anything that could affect… wait a minute I have metallic items on the surface of the planetoid. It's a large structure that is ninety meters tall with a large dish on the top with four two hundred meters tall towers on each side of the structure. No life signs are detected," Celosia reported as she checked the scans that were coming back.

"I wonder who built it?" John said as he dropped the nose of the Raptor and headed for the planetoid.

"What are you doing?" Celosia asked as the scan returns intensified.

"Getting a closer look," John said.

"WHAT? Turn us around, we don't know what will happen to us if we get too close…"

The sounds of cackling on the communications station coming on stopped Celosia's rant.

"What the frak?" John said as he felt the nose of the Raptor being forced to turn.

"_You're welcome to visit… but stay away from the Rock!"_ came through the speakers in old Kobolian.

"Second structure detected. Same configuration as the first," Celosia reported.

"What was that voice? What did it say?" John asked as he struggled to control his Raptor.

"I've got the translator on it," Celosia replied as the ship lurched, "Come on hold her together."

"I'm trying. It's like something has grabbed the ship and is trying to pull her in four directions at once," John shouted out over the hull groaning.

"It's coming from the columns while the signal is from the dish," Celosia said as the ship lurched and was heading away from the planetoid at full power.

"I have a translation. The voice was old Kobolian. It said were welcome to visit, but stay away from the Rock. I assume the Rock is the planetoid," Celosia reported as she read the text on her screen.

"Kobolian? So the old lords built it. Maybe it's a refuge?" John said as he did a system check on the ship.

"Could be. So what now?"

"Let's check out the closer asteroids before we check the main asteroid field that's near the edge of the pocket. Maybe we can find a place to build our base, because I think this is exactly what we're looking for," John replied as he turned towards the field in the distance and applied full thrust to the small ship.

"Yes, Sir. Calibrating the sensors to detect minerals for use in construction," Celosia said as she started typing on her small keyboard.

The small Raptor shot across space. At nine million kilometers they reached the larger asteroids, and started scanning them. Most were iron or metal based, but two contained large deposits of Tylium. She started a detailed scan of the nine large asteroids and stored the information on the disk for the Admiral. Twenty minutes later she said, "I think we should head back to the rendezvous so we can return to the fleet."

"I agree. Spin up the FTL while I finish taking pictures for the Admiral," John said as he started snapping more pictures with the camera, on the asteroids.

"Five minutes and we can jump," Celosia reported.

"Ok," John said as he used his knee to turn the ship and snapped a few pictures of the two Tylium asteroids. He could see in the distance another group of larger asteroids.

Applying thrust the Raptor flew towards the new group and the ships sensors detected there were thirty large asteroids in the group with more asteroids further on.

"Do we contunie to scout?" Celosia asked.

"No, we have enough fuel to get back to the group. Drop the beacon and let's get out of here," John ordered.

"Deploying the FTL beacon… now," Celosia reported.

"Jumping," John said as he turned the key for the jump drive.

_**First Edited by **_

_**Final Edit By **_

Battlestar Galactica™ is a registered trademark and copyright (©) Glen Larson & the SciFi Channel. Thank you to the Battlestar Wiki and The Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game, Battlestar Prometheus have proven invaluable for the information they contain. All material found in this story is for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement should be inferred or is intended. Battlestar Tempest and all its original characters and story lines presented here are the copyright (©) of their creator (©) 2010.


	4. Tempest Chapter 4

**Dreadnaught Tempest**

**Bolthole**

**Chapter Four**

**The Cylons were created by Man.**

**They were created to make life easier on the Twelve Colonies.**

**And then the day came when the Cylons decided to kill their masters.**

**After a long and bloody struggle, an armistice was declared.**

**The Cylons left for another world to call their own.**

**A remote space station was built...**

**...where Cylon and Human could meet and maintain diplomatic relations.**

**Every year, the Colonials send an officer.**

**The Cylons send no one.**

**No one has seen or heard from the Cylons in over forty years...**

**Until Now.**

**Dreadnaught **_**Tempest:**_

**Deep behind the Red Line:**

**CIC**_**:**_

The _Tempest _sat with the rest of her charges, her engines hot and waiting for the next jump. Around the fleet of thirty ships, Raptors jumped in and out of the system scouting the neighboring systems. They had found several worlds that showed where nuclear fire had been poured down on the planets. Three of the nearby planets had once held life. Currently they were investigating a small city on the planet below, many of the cities were shattered nuclear ruin with hundreds of roadways that lead from one city to another. The city they were investigating was the only city not flattened by a nuclear warhead and it was a mystery why. So their men and women were checking the ruins out.

The science teams searching the city had determined the population was once human and that they were wiped out by the Cylons due to several destroyed centurions that were found in the wreckage. The nuclear residue and what computers that could be found and brought back online showed the attack on the third world happened thirty-nine years ago, which was right after the war ended for the colonies. Several small space craft were found at one of the military airfields and they were being ferried up to the _Morrison_ for evaluation. One was a delta winged shaped shuttle and the other was a two seat fighter that held promise as an interceptor.

Another nearby planet had the wrecks of several dozen civilian and military ships above their planet and the surface of the planet was just as devastated as the first and Raptor crews were checking the hulks out to see if anything was recoverable while more Raptors checked the surface for any survivors or anything that would be of us to them.

"Anything from Dr. Orion on the planet?" Rear-Admiral Nancy Owens as she handed the latest report off to one of her ensigns.

"Nothing Ma'am for the last three hours," Cadet Nora Welling replied from the com station.

"Well, let him know to hurry up. We don't know when the Raptors will jump back," Nancy ordered as she stood up and stretched her arms above her head.

"Coffee Admiral?" Colonel Regina Hays asked as she held out a cup.

"Thank you Regina," Nancy replied as she took the cup and drank half of it down in two large gulps, "Ahh that was good…"

"Dradis contact…

"Identify!" Nancy ordered as she turned her chair to face the Dradis station.

"I'm getting an IFF now… It's Raptor 3732 under the command of Lieutenant Anthony Hops. No sign of Raptor 27622."

"Their back early," Regina said from her side of the Dradis screen.

"Yes they are. Cadet Welling, get me Lieutenant Hops on the horn," Nancy ordered as she pulled the handset from the cradle.

"You're on Admiral," Nora replied as she flipped several switches.

"Hops, where is Raptor 27622? How did the mission go?" Nancy asked.

"Admiral, we split up as planned, and it was set up to meet in two days. We waited six hours, but they never showed and we were running low on fuel so jumped back here as ordered," Lieutenant Hops replied and then he asked, "Permission to land?"

"Permission granted, bring your sensor data to the CIC when you're debriefed by the CAG," Nancy ordered and then she hung up the handset.

"Where the hell are you Cadet Knells," Nancy said quietly as she looked at the Dradis screen showing the fleet huddled together.

"Ma'am, I have a report from the Commander Lewis aboard the _Morrison._ He is sending a raptor over with a list of the supplies and equipment packed into the _Nightshade's_ lower decks. He also reports they have finished attaching the starboard flight pods and will start on the portside after the next jump," one of the com officers reported.

"Thank you Cadet Anderson, please send a notification to the _Morrison_ and acknowledge their report. Then contact the _Hutton_ that I want to start sorting out the squadrons for the _Nightshade_ and get them organized," Nancy ordered as she set her cup down in its holder.

"I still can't imagine having twenty squadrons of Vipers and one hundred Raptors on one ship," Regina stated as she went through her checklist as she checked each station.

"The _Leviathans_ and _Hephaestus_ repair ships carry that many," Nancy said as she pointed at the _Leviathan_ class mobile dock _Morrison_ that was parked next to the _Ranger_ class mobile dock ship _Hutton_ that were less than twenty kilometers from their ship that was on the holographic screen.

"That's true…"

"Dradis contact… It's Raptor 27622 and Cadet Knells has declared an in-flight emergency," Cadet Welling reported as she pressed her hand to her left ear, "Ma'am, he reports the ship took damage from a micro meteor that hit the port engine. He reports he found a place for you to check out."

"Tell them to come on home. Cadet Knells, send a message to all exploration crews to report back aboard their ships. Have the recall raptors jump to the second planet and give them the recall notice as well. We will possibly jump in two hours," Nancy ordered as she picked up the handset and dialed ship wide, "Attention all hands. Set condition two throughout the ship," as she hung up the handset, the lights changed from white to yellow.

"Now we wait for Cadet Knells report," Regina stated as she watched the Dradis screen and Raptors started jumping out.

"Shuttles and Raptors lifting off from the surface," Cadet Welling reported a few minutes later.

"Good, what about the mining ships?" Regina asked as she started checking off the ships on her clipboard.

Cadet Welling was listing to her earpiece and then turned in her chair, "Ma'am, the mining ships have begun returning to the _Casper_ with a full load of iron ore and to the refinery ship _Nova_ with raw Tylium for processing. The last two orbital water tankers are in rout to the _Voyager_ from the planet with several million tons of melted snow to top off her tanks."

"Good, survey teams?" Regina asked.

"Last one is lifting off now. All our people are off the planet," Cadet Welling reported as the doors opened and Cadet Knells stepped in carrying a black flight recorder case.

"Cadet, what do you have for us?" Nancy asked the young man as he came in to the room.

Cadet Knells handed the flight data disk to his boss and saluted her, as he replied, "Ma'am, five jumps away, we found a system that is nothing but large asteroids sounded by a nebula gasses. In the center is a large asteroid with several large structures on it as well as several obelisks which seemed to be generating a field that kept the nebula gasses around the asteroids. When we tried to approach them, we were told in old Kobolian not to, but we could use any of the other asteroids in the zone for what we wanted. We detected several groups of asteroids that could be used by us. The one group we inspected had two large Tylium deposits that could keep the entire fleet happy for years to come. The rest were made up of iron ore and other metals that we commonly find in the Zodia belt."

"Defensible?" Nancy asked.

"Yes, and if we use smaller asteroids as military bases, we'll have places for additional air wings. We can build our cities inside the asteroids and arm and armor the outside with battle steel and heavy and light KEWs that the construction docks can manufacture for us," Cadet Knells replied.

"Good, get with navigation on the jump points. I'll go over the flight data and soon as the fleet reconsolidates we'll jump to the new coordinates," Nancy said as she looked at Regina and handed her the flight tape, "get this decoded for me."

"Yes, Ma'am," Regina replied as she left the CIC with the flight tape.

"Cadet Knells, I am promoting you to second lieutenant as of now, good job. Go check on your bird and get some down time. We jump in a few hours," Nancy said to the young man and then she turned to the CIC crew and started issuing her orders for the fleet. 

**CIC Dreadnaught Tempest;**

**Six hours after the return of Raptor 27622;**

Admiral Nancy Owens walked into the crowded wardroom. Forty-three ship captains and their second in commands stood around the holographic display table. Tablets tucked under their left arms or placed on the edge in front of them.

"Thank you for coming everyone. We are one month into our journey and we think we have found our new home," Nancy said as she came to a stop at the head of the table and the table came on, "as you can see by the display, there is no main planets but plenty of large asteroids ranging from one kilometer up to several whopping fifty kilometer ones long. Preliminary scans by Lieutenant Knells found several asteroids that filled with Tylium that would make the fleet green with envy. We will pull one of the larger asteroids out of the field and set up the domes for temporary housing while we bore one of the larger ones out. If I remember right, Captain Jellico, you said you could have the primary level done in two months with support levels in six weeks."

"That is correct Captain, if my crews are not called away to mine for other material," Captain Jellico Hanks of the _Casper_ replied from his spot at the table.

"You won't be. We need habitats for the civilian population we have, and you're our engineers," Nancy said.

"Well both refinery ships are full, and the foundry ship has a full load of harvested asteroid so they should be busy. If I have to I can divert a crew for a few hours to blast a chunk off a rock to refill them, but I'll keep my diggers on the main asteroid," Jellico replied and then added, "and send anything we can from the main bore back to the foundry ship instead of ejecting it like we usually do… I think we have an old ore hauler in storage that we can use and if we can build a few more that would help."

"We can do that, if I remember right, the ore hauler was just a basic shuttle design, we can pull a few, reinforce them and modify them to carry ore instead of passengers or cargo… or we could use cargo containers and heavy lifters. We do have a few heavy lifters," Nancy said with a thought.

"Ma'am, I say the heavy lifter idea, where I grew up, they used to bring in scrap iron on the old monorail system and would have special cars that would tilt and dump it down into a conveyer near where I grew up. The conveyer would then carry it to a smelter where it was smelted down and recycled," Colonel Mark Hawks said.

"Thanks Mark, can you get with your people and design one?" Nancy asked the commander of the _Hutton_.

"I'll make it a priority. I do know this. I will be glad to get those giant cargo container emptied and dismantled and off my ship so we can get back to what we're supposed to be doing and that's repairing ships," Mark stated in his southern Caprican drawl.

"I'm sure you do, but it will be awhile before we unload those containers, well except for the ones holding the prefab domes," Nancy said as the rest of the officers chuckled, "Commander Morrow, what of the _Nightshade_? How is your crew?"

Commander James Morrow looked up from where he was typing into his data pad, "Everything is going good. As you know we have installed one of the flight pods, and the second is due to be installed next week. It will take about three weeks. We should launch by the end of the month, and be fully operation in four months. The crew has been using the simulators on the _Morrison_ to stay in shape. We started forming the Viper wings using the flight simulators and Commander Lewis has been kind enough to let us use some of his Vipers to get actual flight time since he has the resources for extra flight ops that the _Hutton_ doesn't have."

"That's true and we thank Commander Alex Lewis of the Morrison for that," Nancy said as she nodded to the tall red headed man standing across from her, "Now, anything from the surveys?"

"Nothing from our end. The ships we examined are at least two hundred years behind us and were using crude atomic reactors. The most we could use them for is scrap metal," came the report from Commander Lewis.

"Then once we get set up and assembled the two _Octopus_ tugs, we will dispatch them to recover them and then dismantle them for material. As we know, refined material is more easier to work with then raw," Nancy said as she made a note in her pad, "How many ships are we looking at?"

"There are thirty-nine wrecks and the remains of the station in orbit of the planet," Lewis said after checking his pad.

The meeting continued for the next two hours and then they brought up the holographic map of the system where they were jumping to. Several asteroids were marked for building the habitat while others with the higher concentrate of metals were for mining. A dozen smaller asteroids were marked for turning into defense stations and then the mission briefing broke up with everyone knowing their job. Thirty minutes later, forty-three bright flashes happened in the dead system and the ships vanished into FTL.

At the edge of the system, a lone boxy type craft lifted off from where it had been sitting on the asteroid and jumped away.

_**First Edited by **_

_**Final Edit By **_

Battlestar Galactica™ is a registered trademark and copyright (©) Glen Larson & the SciFi Channel. Thank you to the Battlestar Wiki and The Battlestar Galactica Role Playing Game, Battlestar Prometheus have proven invaluable for the information they contain. All material found in this story is for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement should be inferred or is intended. Battlestar Tempest and all its original characters and story lines presented here are the copyright (©) of their creator (©) 2010.


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